Improvement in formers for straw and other hats and caps



J. B. MOWRY.

Former for Straw and other Hats and Caps.

I No. 216,213.

Patented June 3,1879.

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N. PEYERS. PHOTOLITHOGRAPHER, wAsNxNGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE; l

JUNIUS B. MOWRY, OF FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS.

"IMPROVEMENT lN FORMERS FOR STRAW AND OTHER HATS AND CAPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 216,2 13, dated June 3, 1879; application filed April 30, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JUNIUs B. MowRY, of Foxborough, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Former for Straw and other Hats and Gaps, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to crowns for hats and caps formed from a strip of braided straw or other material, which is coiled or spirally arranged with the coils overlapping and se cured by sewing.

As heretofore done, the crown is commenced at its center, and from that point the strip of straw, Src., is worked up until an oblong, elliptical, circular, or other shape is obtained at the tip of the crown, when the remainder of the crown is completed by coiling or spirally arranging the strip'about such oblong, circular, elliptical, or other shaped tip, and the several coils sewed together, all as is well known.

Under this invention the tip of the crown is the last, instead of, as heretofore, the first, por tion of the crown that is formed, and this is accomplished by the use of a former which has an elliptical, or oblong, or circular, or other shape similar to that of a crown-tip, as heretofore made, and which makes a center about which to form the remainder or outside portion of the crown, the tip of the crown being afterward put in when such former is removed, all substantially as hereinafter described, reference being Vhad to the accompanying plate of drawings,in whichi Figure l is a face view of the former and a strip of straw braid partially coiled around it; and Fig. 2, a cross-section on line x x, Fig. l; Fig. 8, a face view; Fig. 4, a cross-section on line y y, Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a longitudinal sectionvon line a; m, Fig. 3, all of the former itself.

In the drawings, A represents a former of my improved character. This former is shown as of an oblong or elliptical shape, and its size is about that of the tip portion of abat-crown as made heretofore by working a strip of braided straw, 86o., into an oblong or elliptical shape, and before commencing to coil such shape to form the balance or remainder of the crown. a is a groove in the edge of the former A, and b a notch in one of the flanges c, which makes such groove or side. The notch b is on one of the longer sides of the former, and on d of its sides or walls is at an acute angle to the direction of its other side or wall,f, and this wall f is at right angles to the innermost wall, g, of the notch, which wall g is parallel to the lon ger axis of the former. h is a handle attached to one face of the former A.

In using this former A, place the strip of braided straw or other material of which it is desired to make a hat or cap crown in the notch b of the groove a of the former, at a suicient distance from one end of the strip for the space occupied or embraced by the former to be filled in with it, after which dis pose the strip edgewise around and in the groove 'of the former, and then about such portion of the strip so disposed in said groove y coil the strip, and so on, overlapping each coil and sewing the same together, as ordinarily, until the required size of crown is obtained, when remove the former and dispose that portion ofthe strip which was left to project from the notch within the opening left by the removal of the former in any proper manner to fill and close up such opening, which completes the making of the crown.

The acute-angular direction of one side, d, of the notch b in the former A enables the loose end of the strip of straw, &c., placed therein, as described, to be the better held out of the way in the after ceiling and sewing of the strip, as above described.

Among the many advantages secured by the use of an improved former, such as herein described, may be mentioned the following: that unskilled labor may be employed; that a uniform, regular, and even coiling of the strip and a systematic and beautiful shape are secured to the crown; that crowns can be made with greater facility and ease.

- The former A may be made of various materials-as, for instance, metal, wood, pasteboard, Sac-and, again, it is capable of use with materials other than straw, as has herein been particularly described.

The groove a, as also the notch b in the groove a of the former, may be dispensed with, if desired; but it is preferable to have them both, for obvious reasons.

Again, the former may be of various shapes in its outline, and when it is removed the sp aee or opening` left by it may be lled in in various Ways other than by the strip of straw, as herein described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In the manufacture of hats and caps from a strip of straw or other material, the formation of the crown about a central former, A, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A former, A, having an edge groove 0r channel, a, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A former, A, having an edge groove 0r channel, a, and a notch, b, opening,` into said groove, substantially as and forA the purpose described.

JUNIUs B. Mower.

Witnesses:

A. T. STARKEY, A. J. NICHOLS. 

